Nikon D610 Review

Just a year after the arrival of Nikon's full-frame D600 in the fall of 2012, its replacement arrived in 2013. The D610 is the exact same as the D600 but with a new shutter mechanism that boosts continuous shooting and adds a 'Quiet Continuous' mode. The only other upgrade is an improved auto white balance system.

The D600 is an excellent DSLR, with top-notch photo quality, a well-built body and impressive movie recording capabilities. Unfortunately for Nikon, the D600 is probably best known for collecting oil on the sensor - an issue for which Nikon only initially issued a service advisory, without admitting the actual cause of the problem. Nikon only directly acknowledged the issue over four months after the launch of the D610, saying: 'Nikon has thoroughly evaluated these reports and has determined that these spots are caused by dust particles which may become visible when the camera is used in certain circumstances'. It's now offering D600 users free inspection, cleaning and replacement of the shutter assembly and related parts even if the warranty has expired.

Internet theorists have suggested the D610 was created to leave the troubles of the D600 behind. And the appearance of a new model so soon after the D600's launch, with almost no changes other than a new shutter mechanism, seems to give that theory some credence. However, given the company's reticence to discuss the problem with the D600, we haven't had absolute confirmation from Nikon that the oil issue has been 'officially' resolved.

With that out of the way, let's take a more in-depth look at the D610, and what's changed. The D610 shoots 6 fps, up from 5.5 fps on the D600. A new Quiet Continuous mode shoots at 3 fps and, as its name implies, makes less noise while doing so. Finally, the auto white balance system has been updated to produce more accurate color in artificial lighting, and more realistic skin tones.

As mentioned above, the D610 is literally the D600 with three new features (four if you count the new shutter mechanism). That's actually not a bad thing, as the D600 is a truly excellent full-frame camera, as you can see in our review.

The D600's 24.3MP FX-format CMOS sensor produced excellent JPEG image quality, and performed very well at high sensitivities. Its Raw files had an impressive amount of dynamic range, as well. The D610 performs just as well since the sensor and processor are unchanged from the D600. Some other things we enjoyed about the D600 that carries over to the D610 are its solid, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, large optical viewfinder, responsive (and customizable) interface and high-end video specs.

There is little to complain about in the D610 since from our experience the reported oil issue seems to be fixed. Otherwise, just like the D600, we found fault with the D610's poor outdoor LCD visibility and some live view quirks (AF speeds and lack of a histogram). The point here is that the D610 offers all that made the D600 excellent, plus a few nice improvements.

Key specs compared

Nikon D610

Canon EOS 6D

Nikon D800

Effective Pixels

• 24.3 MP

• 20.2 MP

• 36.3 MP

ISO Range

• 100-6400 standard • 50-25600 expanded

• 100-25600 standard
• 50-102800 expanded

• 100-6400 standard • 50-25600 expanded

No of AF points

• 39

• 11

• 51

Screen

• 3.2" • 921,000 dots

• 3"
• 1,040,000 dots

• 3.2" • 921,000 dots

Viewfinder

• 100% coverage• 0.7x magnification

• 97% coverage
• 0.71x magnification

• 100% coverage • 0.7x magnification

Built-in flash

• Yes

• No

• Yes

Continuous drive

• 6 fps

• 4.5 fps

• 4 fps

Storage

• SD • 2 slots

• SD

• SD and CF • 2 slots

Weight
(inc batteries)

• 850g (1.87 lb)

• 770g (1.7 lb)

• 1000g (1.98 lb)

Dimensions

• 141 x 113 x 82 mm (5.6 x 4.5 x 3.2")

• 145 x 111 x 71 mm
(5.7 x 4.4 x 2.8")

• 146 x 123 x 82 mm
(5.8 x 4.8 x 3.2")

Wi-Fi + GPS

• Optional

• Built-in

• Optional

Kit options and pricing

The D610 is available in different kits in different markets. The most widely-available kit includes the 24-85mm F3.5-4.5G ED VR standard zoom, which comes at a recommended price of $2599.95 / £2299.99 / €2499.

The US also sees the camera offered in a variety of kits with other lenses, and it's available body-only both there and in mainland Europe for an RRP of $1999.95 / £1799.99 / €1949.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.

We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X, Y, and Z and ideally A, B, and C.

This article is Copyright 1998 - 2015 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.

The article was dated March 2014. Today is March 29, 2015. I did not see this article until March 28. Let us say this article was posted March 20 . . . that is a year old. How much work will it take to update the article to include D750 which was release September 2014.

Perhaps I am expecting too much. That was 6-months ago. Seems to me someone at DPR fell sleep at the wheel.

It's also significantly cheaper than the D750, especially if you're living in a third world nation, where the extra $500 can make a lot of difference. The D610 also has a silent shutter which its bigger brother lacks, and that's very useful when you're shooting stage performances. So the D610 does have its target market.

@Thermidor - The issue is the untimeliness of the article. Target market is NOT the issue. But since you brought the issue . . .

Do you honestly believe people in the Third World Country would put high priority on digital camera? Have you personally tested D620 V D750? What stage performance are you talking about? Do you really believe you will be allowed to take photos of the performance?

But @ecube, this article was first released in March 2014. The D750 came out much later.

Outside of Europe, the US and Japan, the price difference between the D610 and D750 can be quite significant, even in a place like Australia. In Malaysia where I'm from (which is indeed classified as Third World), the price difference is easily equivalent to half a month's salary of a senior executive. and even so there will still be need of people that need to use a full frame, like press photographers.

I happen to be a part-time stage photographer, and I'm paid to become the official photographer of a theatrical performance or concert. Just because I'm officially allowed to shoot doesn't mean a loud shutter isn't disruptive and annoying to people nearby. This is more so in show where the ticket prices aren't cheap and viewers can get very touchy. It's for this reason I use a mirrorless during quiet shows, as the shutter is a lot quieter.

The point is, the D610 is older than the D750, and there's little to be gained by comparing both and then repeatedly pointing out that it's inferior. If you wanted to see that, it's already in the D750's review. The D610 should be judged on its own merit, not against something significantly more expensive.

Yes, I have a mirrorless, but that's not my workhorse. The AF system isn't reliable enough compared with a DSLR. I use a DSLR for work, and unfortunately the shutter noise is really audible in quiet shows, like a theater play.

I briefly had the Canon 100D, which has a silent shutter option, and even its default shutter is a lot quieter than older Canon models, so while not always necessary, I benefit directly from such a feature.

You wanted to know why someone would buy the D610 over the D750. I gave you my answers. Even if I had a bigger budget, I would still get the D610 instead if I was shopping for a full frame, as the surplus money can go towards a better lens.

Where in any of my replies did I tell you what to do with your purchase decisions? You asked, and I answered. If you just want a confirmation bias for the D750, then don't post in the D610 forums and get all upset when someone points out its merits.

This seems to be the first review of a Nikon DSLR on this site in a long time that did not complain about overexposure by 1/3 stop. Is it true that this camera does not do this? Interesting that the new D750 overexposes according to dpreview. It would be helpful to know about the D610 for a number of reasons: 1. Setting exposure compensations to - 1/3 EV constantly is bound to underexpose some shots. 2. It will be hard to tell from the LCD readout whether a scene is overexposed by such a small amount. 3. If details are in fact blown out, you can't get them back. Please let us know dpreview. Thank you so much in advance.

The Nikon over-exposure problem was the only irritant I had with my D40x. Having to continually adjust the exp comp drove me nuts, I was so glad my D90 had a decent meter.

I never understood why Nikon does it, they obviously can set the camera to meter correctly but half the time they set it to expose the shadows. If they learn from their mistakes it would be OK but it puts me right off the D750, I know you can set the meter to underexpose all the time but it's only in bright light that they do it!

Hugo808 - I never own D40x so I will not comment on that. The rest of your comment seem to suggest of your not being aware of the choice of metering. If your camera is the D90 and you are contemplating on moving up to the D750, you will find a highly delightful camera. If you decide to switch, please take time to learn whatever new camera you get to get the best results.

It's not my perception. It is an acknowledged problem. This from the DRP review of the D750:

"The one issue that we had related to image quality - which was touched upon on the Shooting Experience page - is the D750's tendency to overexpose by about a third of a stop. That's not a lot, but overexposure is still not desirable, as you'll never get those highlights best. In our time with the D750 we usually kept the exposure compensation down -1/3EV. One other feature offered by the D750 is to 'bias' the metering in 1/6EV increments. In other words, you can set up the camera so when 0EV is display, it's taking the bias into account."

This sounds better than some of them that only overexpose in high contrast situations so you have to change the bias back and forth.

Why still buy Nikon? Because half the time they get it right and I've got a bagful of lenses and flashguns.

I just agreed with your statement about Nikon's inability to produce a PERFECTLY ACCURATE LIGHT METER. As I stated earlier, I do not have metering problem with ALL the Nikon DSLRs I have owned and used. Perhaps I am not too fussy.

May I suggest you rent Canon or any other brand and see for yourself the metering performance compared to Nikon. If you are more satisfied with non-Nikon camera, switch instead of living in a compromise that irritates you.

Shareir - The cost of the camera depends on the features. I suggest you list the features you want in a camera. Assuming you are an accomplished photographer, then you know what to look for. Read reviews (in DP Review) to determine which cameras meet your requirements and narrow the list of cameras to 4 or five.

The review includes the MSR (Manufacturer Suggested Retail) price for NEW camera. If I were you, I would buy a used camera. As other already suggested, go to eBay and buy your camera from eBay. Consider the taxes you may have to pay for items from foreign countries. Consider the shipping charges, some are included in the price, other are not. Ask questions (at the end of the listing details).

I assume you are not putting us on and English is not your native language.

hi dear folks i wonder why the iso performance and image quality is much lower than canon 6D according to what im seeing in the iso tests here??? im a nikon user but this confuses me why Nikon D610 wins over Canon 6D in image quality compare. i wanna start astrophotography so should i change to canon?

Not sure what part of the scene you're looking at that makes you think the Canon 6D is magnificently better than the Nikon D610. Looking at the RAW files, they're both neck-and-neck through ISO 6400, with neither really having a sizable advantage.

If you shoot Nikon now, I don't see enough difference here to warrant changing out hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars of equipment just to obtain an absolutely tiny difference in image quality. There are plenty of photographers who successfully use older, and technically 'inferior' cameras to do astrophotography.

thanks for the reply i am watching the cards down left, the canon 6d looks sharp at iso 100 in raw file and just what i see ppl around me using canon 6d mostly to capture the night sky thought i would rather keep using nikon i afraid i cant get what i want

to me the d610 looks awful well maybe the dynamic range is nice only ... im nikon user wants to update my gear ... not a brand fan or hater .. just want to know if the review is not commercial just a true information to ppl look at this http://i.imgur.com/zIlq5hN.jpg (screenshot from my monitor)

A few years ago my friend and I each purchased D80's. The next year Nikon discontinued this model and stopped manufacturing batteries. Now we have cameras that are useless paper weights. Nikon is a company that doesn't give a ....... about it's customers. They do this on purpose so as to make you buy the next model over and over again.

I know how you feel, Bob. I was midway through a photoshoot when Nikon officially discontinued the D7000. My camera instantly went from a working photographic device to a completely useless lump of plastic, mag-alloy, and silicon. I had to tell the model to go home because I had to upgrade to a new camera.

You mean this battery I found on their website?http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Batteries/EN-EL3e-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery.htmlThey also seem to be widely available on Amazon and ebay...

@BobFoster - My niece has a D80 and she is still very happy using it. Incidentally, I am still using my D90 which has the same battery as the D80. Be careful buying not genuine Nikon Batteries. Some will not work because of the lack of coding chip.

Whyamihere - I am surprise! Why would your D7000 ceased to function the moment Nikon announced the D7100? Did you dropped the camera on the floor? I have two friends who make their living as a photographer. While they now mostly use D800, they also still use their D7000.

@Red - I guess I am too gullible in taking those clowns seriously.On the serious side, I bought 4 new EN-EL15 for D800 and 2 new EN-EL14 for my D5100 for less than half the Nikon MSR at eBay. Those batteries are performing flawlessly.

Hi, just under a month ago I purchased a Nikon D610 and doing some tests yesterday I realized that long exposures of between 45 and 150 seconds, a lot of points in green and white, red, blue me appear. At first I thought it might be chromatic noise but not that they appear in both long and short exposure as a sensor having so little time. When compared to other photos with the same parameters and the Nikon D610 made ​​mine generates many more pixels than the other colors. My question is whether a sensor problem that can be solved with a firmware update or something, or is it a problem of my camera's sensor.

This review is absolutely wonderful! There is so much detail! I really appreciate all of the different photos you provided. I’m big on visuals, so it really helps to actually see the outcomes of photos taken with different parameters set.I’m really glad to see that the D610 for you didn’t have the same oil/dust issues that the D600 had.

Sorry for so many questions...using AI/AIS lenses, assume i have to go into menu, set non-cpu, not what other data to change. Do i have to go into menu every time i use lens? Once set, does it store? Does it need to be reset in menu every time camera turned on? I could not buy this camera if i have to go into menus every single time i use camera.

In response to several post about dust on the d610 and about Nikon service:The auto focus stopped working completely on the 610 after about 1,000 pictures. I called Nikon and went through a series of question and answers to see if it was the camera or me that was broken. I sent the camera back (at my expense) and was immediately emailed upon receipt that it would be covered under the Nikon warranty. The camera was repaired and returned (at their expense) within a week and has been fine ever since. The camera is not advertised as being airtight as one post suggested. I change lenses often and am constantly blowing dust out of the camera body, but no oil spots after 8 month and 5000+ pictures.

BEWARE! The dust problem of the D600 is not really fixed. It just takes longer to manifest

So Im on an expedition in the Himalayas with a student group and suddenly start seeing spots on otherwise pristine images. Realize quickly that this is a dust on the sensor. Just 4 months old Camera.

Got back home (Pune) and approach the 'Authorized Nikon Dealer'. His response 'We can't help, you just have to take it to the Authorized service center'. Duh? You pay a premium and buy from retail shops and for what? This is Nikon, friends. The dud could not even recommend a good cleaning kit for this sensor but playing the same broken record 'we can't help you'

Nikon's retail network sucks. Any dud can open a shop these days. And Nikon products have also started to suck big times.

Have been a loyal Nikon guy for over 15 years. I guess it is time to finally think objectively and move on.

I hope Dpreview stays genuine & revises the review based on 100s of users who are seeing the dust issue.

Any DSLR will accrue dust after time, especially early on in it's life, and will require cleaning. Four months is about average. And anyway, the issue with the 610 was with oil spots during manufacture.

Why the DSLR will accrue dust after time. I have the dust/oil? problem after about 600 shots. But I haven't change the lens at all. I have my D80 for so many years, I don't have any dust problem at all without changing the lens. I believe Nikon have not fixed the dust/oil spots problem in D610.

Dear Nikon: I am a very big fan of the D600/D610 product. If you are going to be making improvements on this product, please consider the following: aperture adjustment in live view, better preview of exposure compensation before the shot in live view, better frame coverage for the AF points (maybe 51 instead of 39), and better low light AF. .... There may be more, but that's my wish list.;-)

PS Two more things on the wish list: EXPEED 4 and support for the faster SD cards!

Where were you when everyone was posting about D600 spots? Where were you to test the D600 for this problem? DPREVIEW, you have done nothing to help members here figure out this issue. Perhaps you don't wish to rock the boat with Nikon sending you free cameras to test?

You have severely hurt your reputation here, and I very infrequently visit because I do not trust your reviews. A problem that was so widespread and admitted by Nikon to be a defect was never mentioned by you in your review. You are nothing more than a mouthpiece for the manufacturers, regurgitating their press releases. Your tests are a joke because they don't reveal problems that others experience in real world shooting.

What is the point of reviewing products if you aren't at all critical of them?

Nikon replace my D600 with a new D160 but after I took about 650 shots, then the dust problems are coming up again even I have not change the len. Since the D610 is airtight and there should not have any dust going into the camera, therefore I can conclude that there is a design probelm or manufacturing problem for the D610. I have a D80 for almost 5 years and I don't have any dust problem in my camera.

A previous posting claimed that the D610 will not allow me to use my manual focus Nikkors - something to do with the mirror box.

" i can't use my over the years collected mf lenses, because of the mirrorbox."

Is this totally, or partially true? What is he referring to? I would assume that it would have a "Non-CPU lens data" mode as per my D300. My D300 has allows 6 different lenses to be programed. I would prefer 8 or 10. I can't find any mention of this feature at all in the above test.

similar to D Gold, but a little different, either camera will do what you're looking for but the lenses contribute massively - especially in low light. i got the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor Lens (for easy searching) and it shoots quickly in near darkness and the images look like they were shot in a sunny room (with auto ISO capped at 6400).

that said, i'd go for whichever one you have lenses for and if you have no lenses, go with the best deal you can find and put the money towards a good lens.

You are right the D610 still has the dust issue. I never change len on my D510, After I came back from a trip, I took about 1500 pictures, I will always find about 5 darp spots when I zoom my picture at 50% or 100% at F22. I don't know why those dust come from. The Nikon service manage told me that the dust are come form the len itself but this is entirely no true after I check the lens, there is not hole that the dust will get into the camera.

One caveat - the out of the box mode is DX with a DX lens attached, but you can override that in the menu and have the camera remain in FX mode. You will see vignetting in the picture with a lot of DX lenses, but you can crop down if you want in post.

I bought the D610, after several years using the D90... happy years even with a DX format camera.In just two months with the D610, I had many troubles, several fights with Nikon, two returns, and ONE switch to Canon.Nikon is history for me. Now I'm happy again.

Mine also turned out to be a lemon and it is just so hard to get a resolution from Nikon these days. I still have to make a few rounds to their 'Authorized service centres'. I guess I am rightfully getting punished for being a blind, loyal Nikon user so far.

Why is "dynamic range" so narrow? I understand that your metrics have actually little to do with the sensor but rather how the camera processes jpegs, but I wonder if it makes sense to give a camera an 87%, said camera being rated near the top for dynamic range elsewhere (http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Ratings/Landscape) and still demonstrate such a poor performance. Either your metrics are only relevant for jpegs or you're trying to say something... If the former, most raw shooters get undeserved and at any rate, you shoot jpegs with all the possible tweaks to get the best out of the camera I guess.

I would say that what DxO did is quiet different from what DPR did here. At DxO they kind of don't really care about what a photo going to look like in extreme DR -- they often just push a sensor to its limit and give a theoretical rating defined by S/N Ratio.

I have a question concerning the dynamic range. I added d7100 to the chart and d7100 has more than a full stop advantage over d610 in shadows and 2/3 advantage in highlights. Is this what the graph shows or i can't read it right. I thought that a full frame camera will have better dynamic range than APS-C.

If you go to Imaging Resource, load their RAW images of the identical scene into either LR or PS CC, you will see that noise is virtually the same for these two cameras. That said, I tend to not shoot my D610 beyond 6400 unless I have to, but it's nice to be able to when needed.

You have probably compared the jpeg... Compare them above at iso 6400 in RAW, and place the cursor on the balsamic bottle (bottom center) : the Nikon is far better !DXO will give you the same results : iso2340 for the 6D, iso2925 for the D610. Almost 30% better for the Nikon...

Hello guys, my name is Zaheer and I want a good dslr which has a good and sharp image quality, so I decided for a d7100, but stil confused between d7100 and d610 so plz help me, which Camera should I buy, for a good still and great photos???

I own a D-610 for one month, I’m completely satisfied with this FX camera. My preceding kit was a D-90 with the 18-105 and 70-300, now I have the D-610 with 28-300 and 50mm 1.8, What a difference it made, I was well serve with my past kit but now I can see the step up I made, I can put the image at 100% on my computer and I find it terrific. I have read a lot of complain about this camera, but for me it’s the best gift I made myself for my sixtieth anniversary.

Just to share with the community in regards to the 600/610 spot issues. Bought the 610 w/ 28-300mm and after a few hundred pictures taken in the span of two days. I could count at least 15 spots and maybe even more.

Well, a deliberately missed opportunity... WHY is there STILL an AA filter? The D7100 at base iso will have greater resolution and acutance than a D610, so this move backwards , this photographically, optically , morally and visually retrograde step makes no sense.

What is needed simply is less. No AA filter. No uncontrollable auto AF, but a return (sighs of relief!) to the D200-D700 rocker switch arrangement of moving groups of AF points to where YOU want them, with Face recognition too-excellent, and can we buy one with a cover for the screen now? No, they have even dropped that on the D7100.

For those who know not, the lack of AA filter makes all the difference-things look like a photograph again. Its why Leitz and Sigma and Hasselblad don't have them, and you can see all the detail that the AA filter filtered out.

And then you have a great machine with not much noise. THe noise kills that resolution- the 1600ISO shots here are mushy,not all the fault of the dreaded 24-85G

One deliberate strategy of Nikon is to stop the cheap camera from being as good as the top line ones. This has been difficult given the improvement of technology. They used to use less effective AF systems but now that the huge amount of pixel really demands some good AF, they will have to make it annoying instead!

Likewise a D610 entirely without AA would be too close to a D800E (less the seemingly diluted extra pixels of D800E).If you are into conspiracy theories, this is s big one of self sabotage!

Which is a bit funny in a way.. All 35mm film cameras, mounted with the same lens, would produce identical results with same exposure settings. Back then, it was about features and build quality, not about differentiated image quality.

Maybe you know not. In a bayer sensor the absence of an AA filter only makes sense if the resolution of the sensor is significantly higher than the resolution of the lens to prevent from moire. With 24MP on FX the pixel pitch is still to low and the camera would suffer from hefty moire. The 7100 has higher pixel pitch due to the smaller sensor. The D800 is borderline so you can have it with and without AA filter. Makes all good sense to me. I don't know Leitz and Haselblad, but the reason that sigma doesn't need an AA filter is due to the all different sensor array.

The blurry viewfinder is probably due to those folks not adjusting the viewfinder diopter adjustment. You know people .... thats why Apple always ask you to check if your power socket is connected when you tell them your pc couldn't boot up. Also, we see more 'amateurs' using high end cameras that some pros don't even use. Beats me if they could fully comprehend the functionality of the D610.

GPS and WiFi are not that useful in many cases. My friend has Canon 6D with these features. But she disabled them all by default. GPS drain your battery really quick even when you turn the power off. You have to turn GPS tracking off which does not make too much sense when you need it.

"CHINA - Industrial and commercial authorities have launched a probe into Nikon China after the company was accused by China Central Television of selling defective products.

Many consumers have complained of dust buildup on the image sensor of the Nikon D600 camera, CCTV said on its annual 3/15 Gala news programme on Saturday."

"Many D600 users including Du have asked for a refund or a free upgrade to the newer model D610, but Nikon has refused their demands, even though some D600 owners in the United States have been offered a free upgrade to the D610, according to CCTV."

@sandy b: DPR's article mentions both the D600 and D610. The news item I posted mentions both the D600 and D610. I can point you to a reading comprehension course if you are having trouble finding one. :-)

This seems like an appropriate place for your post as far as I am concerned…

Nikon's handling of the D600 debacle in the U.S. has been terrible. I've been a loyal Nikon customer since 1981 and its recent problems with some of its rather pricey cameras have made me gun-shy about purchasing a new DSLR.

I think that it is appropriate because the D610 is Nikon's rather feeble attempt to address a major problem with the D600. What should have been a major recall of a defective DSLR morphed into the introduction of a new camera model… and there are apparently online reports that the D610 suffers from the same sensor issues that plague the D600.

The Chinese government is getting involved because Nikon simply refuses to do the right thing for its loyal customers. It's amazing that a barely functional government does more to protect its citizen-consumers than the "exceptional" good ol' USA...

Remarkable that you imagine that a government that denies consumers even the right to vote actually cares deeply about consumer protection. CCTV, the official broadcaster of the Party, pumps out a constant stream of stories about the endless indignities suffered by the poor Chinese people at the hands of arrogant, evil foreigners, especially Japanese and Americans, and how the Party is standing up for them. This, "they treat Americans with respect but treat us Chinese like dogs" narrative was being trumpeted by CCTV regarding Apple last year and Google, Microsoft, US and Japanese car companies, etc., before that.

So now CCTV says Japanese Nikon treats Americans with respect but treats Chinese like dogs and you applaud the Chinese government for how much more they care about their non-voting consumers than that "exceptional good ol' USA". Amazing.

Nikon did the wrong thing IMO, but nothing CCTV says sheds any light on it. They're not actually talking about consumers or cameras.

for sure a very good DSLR, and the D600 back in 2012 was my FF DSLR dream, 'til i've read about the dust & oil spots issue, and further, that the AF module is only 39 Point AF, and not the 51 AF Point System from the other well known Nikons since the D300....also only the rough center area is covered, that kept me away from the Nikon Fullframe bandwaggon....and of course, i can't use my over the years collected mf lenses, because of the mirrorbox...another thing is that good FX lenses are way expensive, so for many ppl would see the D610 be their DSLR of their (affordable) dreams, but for myself i'd go with the A7, because it's lighter, smaller, almost the same performance, and i can use all my legacy lenses.

personally, i'd say silver award - *if* nikon would have build into the 51 AF points module, and let's say 7 to 8fps, larger buffer too.. that would be a gold award in my eyes, no offence. of course, the sensor performance is outstanding in this class, well done - nikon.

I've tested the Nikon D600 against the Pentax K3. The Pentax is a better thought out camera. It's not deliberately crippled like the Nikon is. It feels tougher and is far more customisable. But the full frame Sony sensor in the D600/D610 is so good that it still makes it the better camera overall.

Just got some pictures ready for a stock agency this morning. Took me about an hour just to clean dust spots... really annoying! Please Nikon if there's one technology you should focus on is getting rid of this problem, or at least find a way to improve it significantly.

Gold? Come on guys, nothing is changed within a year and so, but your ranking still is gold!For instance, the same kind of changes has been made from T2i to T3I (even more substantial), but the first received gold, the second one silver, which is logical.Would you give a gold star another t2i announced this year, say t5? I don't think so(even considering price category change).So it will be logical to change either d610 to silver, or give no award, saying D610 is a continuation of D600 with fixed bags.Secondly, your comparing tool at the conclusions page is totally irrelevant. Comparing D600 vs D610 nothing changes substantially, besides the value row. How will you explain me the fact that D610 received gold award, nothing has changed upon D600 to the worse, but it is half the value(even the announced price,maybe by 100$, but they have been fairly similarly priced when announced)?

GOLD, SILVER=> because all the recent cameras are just great tols to take pictures!The differences are minor in practice-who cares whther a camera holds AF 52 sensors, 36 or 48? This is meaningless!Who careas if camear focuses in 0.08 sec or .006 sec? Who careas abot 100% pixel peep magniffication differences in picrure quality?

While everyone may not agree with DPR's categorization of different bodies - the D600, D610, Df, 6D, and A7 are not in the same category as the D800/e, 5DmkIII, nor 1DmkIV, D3s, etc and the scoring is 'within its category'.So it does not score an 87 against the 82 of the D800, it scores an 87 against the 80, 81, 83, and 87 of the five cameras in its category...Consider each category having its own 1-100 grading scale, and not related to other categories.

I only care about price group according to street price and size/weight. Unfortunately the D610 being a bit heavier and larger than the DF or 6D makes it a bit close to the D800 which due to older age is not in a completely different price bracket than a brand new D610. So overall the D800 *would* compete with the D610 to the enthusiast buyer. You have 6FPS vs 4FPS, but the thought that the D610 dropped frames in daylight on the outer edge on a f4 lens may be a consideration in the D800's favor as well. Thus the only thing left would be shutter obtrusiveness. Overall the D800 in my eye, especially used or pre-owned, would be in heavy consideration over a D610 at this point particularly because the D610 is substantially heavier than the DF/6D to be closer to the D800 anyways.

And IMO the A7 would be in an entirely different class due to size/weight as well. I would not classify them according to purely sensor size or MPs...

In addition this is the first review I've seen that makes explicit mention of what looks to be ownership bias -

"So in recent months, the D610 has been my tool of choice to capture those images."

To me where as other camera's seemed to be, 'hey you have a new camera to try, go review it', this review is more like...hey you already own and picked this camera for your day to day use, go review it....

Size and weight have little to no factor in the categorization of the cameras, and while the $1000 between the D610 and D800 may be no issue for you, that is a top end lens purchase and a considerable difference for the other 98%. I am happy you enjoy your D600/610, or have chosen that over the D800, however there is little comparison/similarity between the D610 and D800 other than they are both made Nikon.

As for the categories; I am not defending DPR's quantification by any means.. I do not think the front plate on something like the A7 and A7R warrants those falling in different categories when all else is essentially identical... Or when a brand providing 1/10th the high-end lenses gets its new body categorized with other high-end bodies. However build quality and materials, as they would factor in serviceability of more intensive use, are a valid measurement aspect of one camera against another. Especially when functionality accompanies the higher build quality and materials.

1000 dollars is about the worst case difference in price. The difference if you entertain purchase of low shutter count refurb or pre-owned is more like $300-400 dollars. There is also brand new imports but I don't know if Nikon is more of a stickler about that to absolutely deny any service, etc (if it were Canon I may not get warranty, but they will not deny service). There are not a lot of refurb or pre-owned options for the D610. Likewise even if I compare a street price 6D to lowest street price 5DMKIII the difference is still about 1k. The moment the D610 is about 1 year old, and perhaps its street price is lower, then yes I would agree it would be a affordable option. As it is, in my mind its about a $300 differential as refurb is an absolutely viable option.

That is all great and well.. however this is not a review site for refurb equipment.. It is new equipment, and as those products hit the street (...sometimes..P).

Your point is certainly a valid consideration for like-minded buyers, however it is completely irrelevant to the review and the category based scoring - which was the op inquiry, and my response/clarification.

We are still stuck on this? Sent my D600 in for shutter replacement surgery and it came back working just fine. Don't understand why everyone is so worked up over this. Isn't this why photographers have had backup bodies all of these years? I didn't get rid of my D700 when I bought my D600. I kept it in case something went wrong. I will note that this is the first time in 25 years of shooting Nikon that I have ever had an issue. 3rd best sensor ever tested only behind the D800 and D800E. http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Nikon/D600

DPR please make up your mind. You gave the same gold rating to the D610's defective, flawed predecessor - the D600 and vigorously defended such rating even when I commented that I personally already knew at that point that a new camera to replace the D600's flawed design was in fact already in the works. Months later Nikon finally indirectly admitted that it was a flawed a camera that needed to be replaced asap in perhaps what can be described as the shortest replacement cycle in the DSLR world. Please restore a bit of credibility by withdrawing your D600 rating and giving it to the truly deserving D610. Imagine the irony when in the future, one of the worst DSLR bodies in history due flawed design, was at one point rated GOLD by your prestigious website!

King Penguin, I don't care what your impression is of D600. It nonetheless remains a flawed design - otherwise why would Nikon be in such a hurry to release the D610? Semicon manufacturing is a cruel science. This is wanton commercialism on the part of Nikon because if Nikon halted the intro of D600 despite their knowledge of manufacturability and quality issues of the D600, they would not have had a decent competitor to the Canon 6D. How long did it take them to correct the flawed design of the D600, which means how long did it take them to come up with the D610? So yes go ahead be happy with your D600. The fact remains its manufacturer decided to replace it ASAP. Be happy it sharpens your photography AND sensor cleaning skills. So yes be glad I am not in charge of something important. The fact remains you have in your hand a camera with a defective design, and thank God it's your money, not mine.

On that time DPR has awarded the D600, the dust issue wasn't known. I am not a big fan of Nikon anymore, due to some cumbersome and ugly service issues. But the IQ of the D600/610 is top notch. I only was wondering about taking the old 20mm lens. My one produced unsharp edges which had rather wide reach to the centre. For family photography, I used it as well, but a high level compact like the Sony RX100 M2 is the better choice, because later is really not in the way.

Yes, the dust issue hardly showed up during DPR's review period, and they can impossibly take others opinions and problems into account when setting a score. Reviews are subjective, not summaries of the "general blogosphere opinion".

I love the irony that the A7 review was full of people complaining the Sony camera should not have been compared to the likes of the D610 (comparison didn't favor Sony much) and now people complain here the D610 scores much better than the Sony camera.

Sony A7 miss out gold (I disagreed with A7R having Gold, it should've been silver) why because of raw lossy compression, lack of native FE lens, sometimes sluggish AF, aggressive sharpening/noise reduction. Thats probably true to that. Oh another con would be sensor is exposed when changing lens would introduce dust. I think thats a fair call that A7/A7R should go for silver. It would be nice if shutter close before you change lens and some improvement in AF and they need to hurry up make more native FE lens asap.

Here is my problem with all this. If I want better or higer resolution photos I must purchase a whole new camera. This gets expensive every year. With film I could obtain wonderful results with highest quality lenses on like an FTb (Canon). As films improved my FTb got better, what a concept. Now I have to buy a new camera if I wish to get better resolution etc.Perhaps sensor up-grades for a nominal fee?

you need the supporting electrincs as well! and since the lay-out/energy reqs are changing due to the microchips' new versions, then the camera would have to be more modular. there are modular cams in the range of 20k but, for this d600 category its just not feasible.

I fail to see the issue of the ISO button location, and it's use with the camera to your eye compared to other locations on other cameras. I would prefer it on the bottom button on the left side of the LCD so my left thumb could locate it somewhat easier.

I would prefer it on the top, right side, where all the other settings and dials are...Its placement on most of Nikon's bodies would suggest Nikon does not feel it is necessary to change ISO as frequently as other settings, to which I agree for the most part - especially given the customization one has for auto-iso, but other brands (Canon) seem able to place it in the location of the 'other' shooting parameters.